For generations, we’ve all heard fairy tale love stories. We learn early on in life who gets to be loved and who doesn’t. 

Oftentimes, those characters from those stories are written through a specific lens. Rarely do these great romantic tales center Black characters or characters of color at all. 

Black love stories are seen as a niche genre.

The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing Study tracks the publication of books written by authors who are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color) in the traditional romance genre.

According to findings, only 11% of the books published within the romance genre were from writers of color. 

So, what does it mean to call Black love “niche”? And who decides which love stories are universal?

Sylvia Hubbard is an author of over 70 romance novels. She joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to talk more about diversity within the romance genre.

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The Muslim Mavericks is a new children’s nonfiction biography book series highlighting the contributions of Muslims across the world.

The first book features actress, comedian and disability advocate, “Maysoon Zayid The Girl Who Can Can.”

Pulitzer Prize–nominated Muslim reporter and author Dr. Seema Yasmin says the series hopes to dispel stereotypes of Muslims, while creating positive representation in stories. 

“What I’m trying to do with this series is show that Muslims are not a monolith…  there’s nearly two billion of us on the planet,” she says.

Muslims in media

Yasmin says she was inspired to create the series when she realized there were few children’s chapter book series about Muslims.

“Throughout history, Muslims have contributed so much to the fields of science and exploration, mathematics, comedy, film, Hollywood, all of the things,” she explains.

She says people’s first impression of Muslims is on TV or film, usually as someone scary.

“It explains the kind of sentiments and misunderstandings that people have about Muslims and what better way to dispel that than by introducing young readers to Muslim characters early on,” she shares.

She wants readers to connect with people like Maysoon Zayid, a girl who grew up in New Jersey in a Palestinian American home, as a disabled person with big dreams.

“It was really important to me to introduce young readers to these themes of imagining their future, dreaming big, conquering the impossible, and what to do when people tell you that you’re not good enough,” she says.

Islamophobia

Yasmin says Islamophobia, the fear of Islam and Muslims, is rampant.

“The Islamophobia just feels like it is on steroids right now. For many of us old enough to remember September 11, 2001 and the aftermath of that, what Muslims and just generally brown people lived through, the environment right now is feeling like that,” she shares.

She says people are getting “steeped in these misconceptions of an entire community,” she further explains.

She hopes the series will introduce readers to a range of Muslims to help tackle Islamophobia. 

Yasmin has a background as a medical doctor and a former journalist.

She says the next book in the series will come out later this year.